Review Proposed Parking Restrictions on One Side of Public Streets in Village of Sunfish Lake

Purpose:
Review Proposed Parking Restrictions on One Side of Public Streets in the Village of Sunfish Lake.
 
Background:
On April 22, 2003, the Ramsey City Council adopted Resolution #03-04-095 approving the final plat for the Village of Sunfish Lake residential development. Attached is a copy of the adopted resolution that includes a contingency to comply with the City Staff Review Letter dated April 18, 2003, which specifies required parking restrictions on one side of all 28-foot-wide public streets, on both sides of the 20-foot-wide public street surrounding the green space west of Radium Street, and on both sides of all 24-foot-wide private streets. Copies of the City Staff Review Letter and an excerpt from the February 18, 2003, Public Works Committee meeting minutes addressing this topic are included in the attachment.
 
As a reminder, the median islands were removed from Radium Street this summer as part of the 2025 Neighborhood Pavement Overlay Improvements project so parking is no longer restricted along this street.
 
A resident of this neighborhood contacted staff this Spring to request on-street parking restrictions.  Staff then researched this topic and found the attached documentation.  At that time, staff from several departments met to discuss the benefits of installing no-parking signs along the public streets in this development, which included improving access, response times and operational efficiencies for emergency responders and public works operations, improving access to mailboxes for mail carriers, and improving sight lines for drivers and pedestrians. 
 
Staff then formulated a plan to restrict parking on one or both sides of the public streets throughout the Village of Sunfish Lake development per previous City Council approval and as shown on the attached figure (red lines denote the side of the street where parking is proposed to be prohibited).
 
On September 16, 2025, Staff discussed the plan to install no-parking signs on public streets in the Village of Sunfish Lake development with the Public Works Committee, and to mail letters to residents informing them of this plan.  Staff received confirmation from the Committee that letters should be mailed to all residents in the development.  Attached is a copy of the letter with the attached figure enclosed that was mailed to residents on September 24, 2025.
 
Since the letters were mailed, several residents contacted staff to voice the following concerns with the plan to restrict parking in this development.

• A lack of available on-street parking already exists in the neighborhood, which is especially problematic on holidays and when vendors arrive to provide services.
• Many homeowners have multiple vehicles that cannot all fit in driveways and garages overnight, primarily due to the HOA’s outdoor storage restrictions and numerous families having older children at home that drive.
• Vehicles cannot park two-deep in driveways without blocking sidewalks, which impedes pedestrians and snow removal operations.
• The green space within the loop street west of Radium Street is used by many residents as a local Park, so restricting parking on both sides of this street will force people to park in front of homes a distance away, removing available on-street parking spaces for those property owners and their guests.

 
Staff had planned to call Gopher State One Call on October 9^th to ensure utility locators would not begin painting marks on the ground to identify the locations of electric, gas, telecommunications, sewer, and water utility lines until well after all residents had received and reviewed the letter.  Public Works crews then planned to start installing sign bases the week of October 13th, with the installation of posts with no-parking signs occurring immediately after.
 
The Ramsey Police Department then planned to begin enforcing the no-parking signs by issuing written warnings and/or parking citations due to improper parking.  When no-parking locations change, Ramsey Police Officers use discretion when enforcing parking violations.  In this instance, education through written warnings was planned for a period of 30 days, though citations may have been issued sooner to repeat offenders or as needed to keep the streets clear for emergencies and/or snow removal operations.
 
It is important to remember that throughout the year parking on either side of any city street is not permitted between 2:00 and 6:00 am.  From 2018 to today, Ramsey Police issued 55 citations to vehicles parked on city streets overnight in the Village of Sunfish Lake, and of those citations, approximately half were warnings only.  

Timeframe:
Staff anticipates up to 20 minutes may be required to present and discuss this case, respond to questions, and receive consensus direction.   
 
Observations:
The Riverstone North and Riverstone South residential developments both have 28-foot-wide public streets and all these streets have signs restricting parking on one side of the street for the same reasons as noted earlier.  The parking restrictions on these streets appear to be working well so staff reviewed the signing on these streets and followed the same design guidelines when formulating the signing plan for the Village of Sunfish Lake. 
 
Alternatives:
Alternative #1:
Provide consensus direction to staff to continue with the plan as proposed in the letter mailed to residents on September 24, 2025. 
 
Alternative #2:
Provide consensus direction to staff to install parking restriction signs as follows; ___________________. 
 
Alternative #3:
Provide consensus direction to staff to not install signs and to mail letters to residents to inform them that parking restriction signs will not be installed.  

Sign fabrication materials have already been purchased but these materials can be used to fabricate signs for use on other city streets.   

Staff recommends proceeding with the plan outlined in the attached letter.  

Based on discussions.